Announcements

SaturnFans.com is excited to announce dates for the first-ever virtual Saturn Reunion this fall: October 25, 2012. Mark your calendars! The first Saturn was sold on October 25, 1990 and later this year Saturn fans from around the world will get back together - online - to reminisce, remember, and catch up on life after Saturn.

My brother, sisters, and I used to enjoy listening to "Rusty Chevrolet" on the radio every year at Christmas time when we were kids. It was a favorite of ours that became even more special to me with the creation of Saturn's rust-proof polymer bodyside panels. Sharing this song with my extended SaturnFans family feels especially appropriate this year – the first Christmas without Saturn. I hope you and yours have a wonderful day. Merry Christmas!

With the pending closure of the ImSaturn social networking site, Saturn has been working closely with me to facilitate a transfer of the most popular "social groups" from the ImSaturn site to SaturnFans.com. The remaining folks at Saturn have a sincere interest in making sure Saturn owners continue to have a place to talk about their cars. As a result, I'm happy to announce the creation of the new "ImSaturn Groups" section here at SaturnFans.com. Now more than ever, it's important for Saturn owners to have a place to share their experiences and get help. The new groups were built to closely mimic the group configuration at ImSaturn. You'll still be able to post photos, as well as send and receive messages from other members. You can also create your own social group!

From Saturn: On October 19, 2009, we sent a letter with the news that the sale of Saturn could not be finalized and as a result, the Saturn brand will be phased out over the next year. Reading letters you sent in, as well as the thoughts that were posted on saturn.com has been an emotional and uplifting journey.

Well, we're back! After the site crashed over the weekend, I decided to use the downtime to move SaturnFans.com to its new home. I had planned to do it back in Decemeber, but between the holidays, the SF Publisher being down, and other parts of the site needing maintenance, moving the site was not a priority. The good news is that over the weekend I was able to repair the database and fix the publisher. All of the articles published between December 8th and the end of the year will be restored from a backup later this week. Unfortunately, several batches of files transfered to the new site were corrupt, so the move has been postponed.

It is with tempered excitement that I officially announce the start of SaturnFest 2009. The format for this year's event will be diferent from in the past. The familiar 5-day schedule has been expanded to 31 days, and the over-the-top celebration will be more reflective and subdued. Personally, I am still finding it hard to prepare a "celebration" so close to the brand's untimely death. Couple that with reports published almost on a daily basis about more retail facilities closing — leaving thousands of folks out of work during the holidays — really saddens me.

With General Motors' unfortunate decision to shutdown Saturn, the need for venues that enable owners and fans to communicate is greater than ever. In an effort to foster that communication across as many mediums as possible, SaturnFans.com can be followed via Twitter, RSS, ImSaturn, and now there's a fan page on Facebook. It's another place for Saturn owners — past and present — to socialize, share experiences, and offer support to each other in the wake of Saturn's untimely closing.

Today was supposed to be the first day of SaturnFans.com's week-long SaturnFest celebration. Just like in the past, it was going to be a happy time, with this year's virtual gathering of owners from around the world (I've received e-mails from as far away as Taiwan) cheering Roger Penske's acquistion of Saturn. But, alas, with GM's decision to suddenly begin the process of shutdowning the brand at the end of September, preparation for the online festival screeched to a halt as news of the impending closure dominated this site's front page.

Of all the letters I have written this past year, this one is the most difficult. I want to begin by thanking all of you for your support over this last year. Your loyalty to Saturn motivated my team to work very hard to try to find a way for this brand to continue. The many e-mails, calls and personal notes provided the inspiration to all of us at Saturn. By now I'm sure you have heard that the sale of Saturn to the Penske Automotive Group could not be finalized. As a result, the Saturn brand will now be phased out over time.

Random Article from the SaturnFans.com Archives

SaturnFans.com congratulates Mike Kramer and the folks at ThunderSport Racing on their win at the SCCA Daytona Classic last week. "This was just a great weekend for us, the car was stout from start to finish and there's no other experience I can think of that compares to being on top of Daytona's high-banks in a racecar," beamed Kramer.